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Wizarding Weddings

What do you think goes on at a Wizarding wedding? We saw a bit of the Weasleys', but it was probably a bit unconventional.

In particular, I'm writing about the wedding of Narcissa Black and Lucius Malfoy from Sirius's point of view (it happens right before his 5th year.)

Where could it have been? Who was invited? What kind of ceremony and reception? Food? Decorations? The ceremony itself? Any suggestions are strongly appreciated!

(and for a bonus--I want something big and shocking to happen at the end, maybe just something Sirius witnesses that can come back later-something probably Death Eater or early Voldemort activity related- my first idea was a bunch of future Death Eaters Imperiusing a Ministry official, but it didn't really fit the story-- any suggestions for that are also appreciated)

I imagine that an influential family with large grounds like the Malfoys would have a wedding on their property, all the better to show off to everyone else in society.

I actually wrote a wizard wedding ceremony of my own in a story that I haven't published here; if you'd like I can PM you the scene (as it's rather long). It, er, kind of is between two males, but the roles can easily be changed to fit any gender.

A reception for those of the upper crust likely wouldn't have the exuberant folksy dancing like we saw at the Weasley's. There would likely be a string quartet or a harpist or the like, and any dancing would probably be waltzes or other stately, classical dancing.

Food: probably either rich and opulent hors d'oeuvres, or a seated dinner for all the guests. I would assume the former, as it allows for more mingling and greater variety of food. Wine and champagne would be flowing very freely, and the finer liquors may even make an appearance.

I agree the Malfoys would have the wedding on the grounds and show off the things that they have and have it upscale and way over the top. They wouldnt have the fun dancing in my opinion since they are a more 'higher' class family so maybe the piano or something like that playing with the dances being old and fancy (waltz).
As for who was invited its good to say mostly purebloods and the higher class folk.
I think that for the Malfoys the food would be fancy and maybe not the tastiest and the decorations would be upscale but still good for a wedding (if they had a theme it would center around that..)
Those are just my thoughts, its biased because I think of the Lucius and his parents as the snobby rich folk who like to show off.

As for the Sirius thing! When I read that I thought of him seeing Lucius cheating like Gmariam or he could see when Lucius becomes a death eater (two big events on one night).

Thanks everyone! I'm going to start writing the scene and see what I need. If I have any more questions, I'll post them here.

What specific people do you think were invited? The Minister of Magic, perhaps?

As for the big event at the end of the chapter, I think Lucius turning into a Death Eater is a good one. Either that, or Sirius notices that someone from the Ministry is being held under the Imperius curse. Something like that.

As for the big event at the end of the chapter, I think Lucius turning into a Death Eater is a good one.

I would be careful about this. If they'd had complete proff of Lucius being a Death Eater, then he would have been sent to Azkaban. There was a strong suspicion, but Lucius managed to wriggle out of it by saying he was Imperiused.Absolute proof in the form of the Dark Mark would have seen him imprisoned.

Also, in GOF, Sirius doesn't seem to know what the Dark Mark is. Harry tells him about Snape and Karakaroff's conversation and he's clueless.

Perhaps he could witness Lucius in a meeting with someone like Lestrange or Avery. Or Greyback could make an appearance - to Lucius' dismay who would hate to be associated with him.

You're right, I didn't even think about it. I was thinking that Sirius, being so used to talk of the Dark side from his family, might know a little bit about who was involved. Perhaps that only became "common" knowledge in the family after Sirius left home.

I do like the idea of Greyback showing up uninvited. Sirius would want to kill him then and there for what he did to Remus.

The wedding takes place in the second chapter of the book, before Sirius goes back to school for his 5th year.
I wanted whatever happens here to subtly (or maybe not so subtly) foreshadow some Big Event in my story. There are basically two sides to the story: the personal relationships side (which details the Marauders, Sirius and Regulus, Marauders vs. Snape, beginnings of James and Lily, Sirius and Dorcas constantly bickering, and of course Lily and Snape and the werewolf prank.) The other half would be something on a bigger scale, something war-related probably. I would do it JKR style, where the Marauders pick up clues throughout the year and it all explodes at the end. The only problem is, I'm not sure what works..

In regards to the people who might be in attendance, I think that the Minister for Magic seems likely. There is no canon information on who this would be at the time, but a couple of possible names (taken from the Lexicon) are Dugal McPhail and Lorcan McLaird. I imagine Lucius and Narcissa would be keen to have as many influential people in attendance as possible.

Senior members of the Ministry of Magic and people with jobs high up in St Mungo's seem likely too. The Malfoys and Blacks may well have given large donations to St Mungo's to gain influence, and inviting the people involved to their wedding would have been a logical continuation of this.

Other likelihoods are people mentioned on the Black family tree, like the Bulstrode, McMillan, Crabbe and Crouch families. There are plenty of others. Any old pure-blood name is a safe bet, as long as they aren't known blood traitors, like the Potters, Weasleys and possibly Prewetts.

Of course, you could make up some characters - school friends of Narcissa and the like. There are likely to be a lot of guests at a big society wedding like this. It is, after all, largely an exercise in showing off.